Low power phototransistor-based welding helmet providing reduced sensitivity to low intensity light and sharp phototransistor response to high intensity light

Abstract

An auto darkening eye protection device including a shutter assembly, a light sensing circuit, a control circuit and a power source. The shutter assembly is adjustable to a plurality of shade levels. The light sensing circuit senses light from a welding arc and providing an output indicative of the shade level at which the shutter assembly should be operated, the light sensing circuit includes a phototransistor operative to receive the light from the welding arc and produce a phototransistor output representative thereof. The phototransistor output from the phototransistor is used to form the output of the light sensing circuit. The phototransistor is configured for surface mount and has an external base connection connected to the base of the phototransistor. The control circuit is configured to receive the output from the light sensing circuit and provide a drive signal to the shutter assembly responsive to said output. The drive signal is operative to drive the shutter assembly to one of said plurality of shade levels. The power source is coupled to the light sensing circuit and control circuit for powering same. The present invention provides reduced power consumption, improved attenuation of low intensity light signals, a sharp rise time from the phototransistor in response to high intensity light, and allows implementation into a smaller sleeker eye protection device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present patent application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 827,014, (U.S. Pat. No. 6,855,922), filed on Apr. 19, 2004, which is a divisional patent application of U.S. Ser. No. 09 / 659,100, (U.S. Pat. No. 6,815,652) filed on Sep. 11, 2000, the entire content of both applications are hereby expressly incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to the field of auto-darkening eye protection devices, such as welding helmets having a shutter (or lens) assembly that automatically darkens upon the detection of a welding arc. A photosensitive device such as a photodiode or a phototransistor may be used to sense the intensity of light incident on the area of the shutter assembly so as to provide an indication to the circuitry controlling the shutter assembly that the shutter assembly needs to be driven to either a dark state or a clear state. If a welding arc is present, the welding helmet ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] One feature of the present invention is the use of a resistor coupled between the base and emitter of the phototransistor. This resistor helps reduce the current produced by the sensor during low ambient light conditions, thereby attenuating the phototransistor output in response to low intensity light signals, and helps produce a sharply rising voltage from the phototransistor in response to high intensity light signals. Preferably, the feedback circuit also includes a second resistor coupled between the emitter of a feedback transistor and ground to further attenuate phototransistor output in the presence of low intensity ambient light.

[0018] Yet another feature of the present invention is its use of a selector circuit for selecting the drive signal that will be delivered to the shutter assembly. If the sensor circuit indicates to the selector circuit that a welding arc is present, the selector circuit will cause a dark state drive signal to be delivered to the shutter assembly. If the sensor circuit indicates to the selector circuit that no welding arc is present, the selector circuit will cause a “clear state” drive signal to be delivered to the shutter assembly. The selector circuit uses a transistor as a switch to control the selection of the drive signal. An RC circuit is part of the selector circuit. The RC circuit utilizes its RC time constant to delay the transition of the “dark state” drive signal to the “clear state” drive signal, thus preventing the shutter assembly from switching to a clear state during brief “off” periods in the weld pulsations that exist with various weld types.

Problems solved by technology

To prevent the photodiode from saturating, a steadily increasing load must be put on the photodiode which leads to excessive power consumption.

While the circuits disclosed in these patents utilize feedback to bias the phototransistor and avoid the excessive drawing of current, heavy loads were still needed.

Metal can phototransistors are relatively big and bulky.

Their size, height and relative difficulty in mounting serves as a limiting factor in the ability of designers to reduce the size of the units in which the sensor circuit is implemented.

This additional circuitry not only complicated circuit design, but also increased the drain on the power supply.

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